Core Activities

Output 1: Indicators for a responsible and ethical performance of the water sector; Benchmarking and Bench Learning of Water Best Ethical Practices:

This would be as a result of launching a program for benchmarking of water best ethical practices on: (i) institutional, (ii) expert, or (iii) project levels. That would be the basis for bench-learning in workshops through dissemination and exchange of experiences in the way of knowledge transfer, through:

· Establish a procedure for benchmarking that includes: (i) identification of problem areas; (ii) identification of organizations that are leaders in these areas; (iii) study their best practices; (iv) implement the best practices; (v) Repeat considering Benchmarking as an ongoing process, and best practices can always be made better.

· Promote and disseminate best practices and success stories in the Arab region.

Output 2: Code of Conduct for Water Use Ethics:

Initiating a code of conduct that includes guidelines for ethics of water use, management and decision making, negotiations and dispute settlement. This output will have to recognize the varied areas of the region, through:

· Initiating a concept paper that sets out an agenda and discusses possible Code themes.

· A thorough study of the themes with written research papers, as a basis for discussion of a working group.

· Composing an expert working group for deliberating the contents and finalizing the guidelines.

· Preparing a draft version and inviting workgroup comments on the research papers

· Launching a workshop with the participation of major stakeholders to exchange their perspectives with the expert group.

· Finalizing the code in view of the results of the workshop.

· Publicizing the Code.

Output 3: Publications for raising awareness:

 

Promoting awareness among specific target audiences (universities, women, students, decision makers, farmers, industrialists, and other stakeholders) in the agricultural and energy fields, as well as tourism, municipal and local government fields, through:

· Publish and disseminate bulletins and newsletters that publicize activities of the network; and monitor its work

· Concentrate public education through a promotional plan in cooperation with NGOs and political parties.

 

· A special program for educating youth and students in schools and libraries, as well as colleges and universities in cooperation with NGOs and the government.

 

Output 4: Establishing a webpage as a forum

 

Networking through the use of Information Technology; and through developing a webpage to help achieving regional integration and creating a database for conveying knowledge and expertise among Arab focal points, through:.

  •        Design of a webpage that takes care of publicizing the activities of the network.

  •        Using the webpage as a forum for exchanging ideas concerning water issues in the area.

Output 5: Promoting skills in negotiation and conflict resolution:

Enhancing water negotiation skills and ethical practice in conflict management and resolution, through:

· A program of lectures.

· Analyzing water conflicts.

· Diplomacy and the strategies of negotiation in the international and regional context.

· Tools of dialogue for facilitating negotiations and concluding agreements.

· Monitoring future water challenges in the region, and possible conflicts.

· Involving stakeholders in small groups for representing the region’s countries in a role play, and carrying out simulation exercises.

 

Output 6: Linking with existing Arab networks, NGOs, water professionals and institutions:

Incorporating water ethics concepts, principles and modalities for actualization into the strategies of the existing Arab and Nile basin water networks through:

· Linking with Arab Water Council.

· Linking with FRIEND (Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data Sets) Project for the river Nile which was recently launched.

· Linking with UNESCO Cairo office “Groundwater Protection Network” in the Arab Region.

· Linking with UNESCO Cairo office "Wadi Hydrology" programme.

· Linking with UNESCO Cairo office HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy) programme.

Output 7: Ethics education, training, and capacity building:

Incorporating ethics in the education curriculum, as well as introducing hands on tools for enhancing skills and capacity building, through: Initiating a program for incorporating water ethical principles in schools curriculum; Introducing a module on water ethics as a postgraduate study in universities; promoting research on water ethics among postgraduate students; initiating a research competition among young professionals and water engineers, through in depth research; and linking with international education programs on water ethics within RENEW nodes and others.

Output 8: International & Regional cooperation:

Promoting regional and international cooperation, in cooperation with the UNESCO office in Cairo, through:  establishing links with other RENEW nodes, inviting for workshops of RENEW nodes for exchanging knowledge and experiences among them, hosting international lecturers and experts, Working in tandem with and parallel to UNESCO International Hydrological Program (IHP) and COMEST proposals and its activities. ACSAD, CEDARE, ALECSO, ISESCO, etc...